Tuesday, July 19, 2005
Ten Years After
Ten year ago, I visited Budapest when I attended the International Congress of Immunology. At that time, Budapest was still under the communist party. In July 2005, I visited Budapest again as I attended another meeting. Do I notice any significant changes?
In 1996, Budapest was a quiet city. The buildings were dark. There wwere not many cars on the roads, but I could see a lot of tourists. Hotels and food were cheap. Budapest at that time provided one of the best public transport system. I enjoyed walking around without any fear. I would say it was a very beautiful city with wide and clean boulevards.
In 2005, I still could not see any new buildings in the downtown area. That makes the city core in harmony, and it is as beautiful as before. I enjoy the old buildings very much especially with those with sculptures and high ceiling. Those buildings remind me of those in the Central District and Nathan Road Districts in Hong Kong in the 60s. However there are quite a few graffiti on those buildings. I think it is because there is a general discontent in the society, as the tour guide pointed out the gap between the poor and rich is getting wider and wider.
It is still very safe walking around the city at night. Tourists are still plentiful, and there are new and modern buildings and shopping mall outside the city core.
I still enjoy Budapest very much and I think it is still a very beautiful city. They clean up the old buildings and they look so magnificient and majesty. They do not mix old and new buildings. It is different from Vienna where they built those new buildings among the olds. As a result, the city looks discoherent with a sense of confusion.
I don't see much changes after 10 years in Budapest. It is different from Hong Kong and Shanghai. I could not recognise Hong Kong now if I visit her. My familiar buildings had gone long time ago, and my footsteps were completely erased. As a result, my feeling of my breeding place is getting weaker and weaker.
I think the Hungarians are smart in preserving the old and empirical buildings in the downtown core. They give a very strong sense of belongings to those overseas Hungarians when they visit their homeland.
In 1996, Budapest was a quiet city. The buildings were dark. There wwere not many cars on the roads, but I could see a lot of tourists. Hotels and food were cheap. Budapest at that time provided one of the best public transport system. I enjoyed walking around without any fear. I would say it was a very beautiful city with wide and clean boulevards.
In 2005, I still could not see any new buildings in the downtown area. That makes the city core in harmony, and it is as beautiful as before. I enjoy the old buildings very much especially with those with sculptures and high ceiling. Those buildings remind me of those in the Central District and Nathan Road Districts in Hong Kong in the 60s. However there are quite a few graffiti on those buildings. I think it is because there is a general discontent in the society, as the tour guide pointed out the gap between the poor and rich is getting wider and wider.
It is still very safe walking around the city at night. Tourists are still plentiful, and there are new and modern buildings and shopping mall outside the city core.
I still enjoy Budapest very much and I think it is still a very beautiful city. They clean up the old buildings and they look so magnificient and majesty. They do not mix old and new buildings. It is different from Vienna where they built those new buildings among the olds. As a result, the city looks discoherent with a sense of confusion.
I don't see much changes after 10 years in Budapest. It is different from Hong Kong and Shanghai. I could not recognise Hong Kong now if I visit her. My familiar buildings had gone long time ago, and my footsteps were completely erased. As a result, my feeling of my breeding place is getting weaker and weaker.
I think the Hungarians are smart in preserving the old and empirical buildings in the downtown core. They give a very strong sense of belongings to those overseas Hungarians when they visit their homeland.
# posted by CyberMan @ 12:35 PM 
